Today it was announced that Philadelphia's entry in MLS, which will start play in 2010, will be called Philadelphia Union. The name was the winner in a fan vote that ran earlier this year.

The colors will be Blue and Gold, and the logo will include a representation of the snake from the Don't Tread on Me flag that was originally used by the colonies, and has since been adopted as a rallying cry of the USA National Teams.

And yes, merchandise is now available!: www.mlsphilly2010.com

interesting name... im not a big fan of these types. i like the traditional american team names- animals, groups, etc-- not a big fan of the "city"s, and union here

nevertheless, im interested to see what type of international players philly can draw

I actually voted for "City" myself, but always figured it would either be "Union" or "AC". Animals and such were never part of the mix, because they wanted a brand that would be both unique to the sports scene in Philly, and would lend itself to an organic nickname that would evolve over time. With a rattlesnake in the logo, we have an opportunity for that.



I was thinking about it on the way home, and even though I sincerely doubt it will happen, Richard Dunne would be very interesting. Man City has already been linked with a push for John Terry from Chelsea, and if that were to happen, it would allow Citeh to move Dunne, who was rumored to be on the move during the last two transfer periods.

Dunne is already established with the Irish team, so he doesn't need close proximity club exposure to stay on that team, and with the large Irish-American population in this area, he would both be a draw, and a strong player to build a defense around.

Again, I have nothing to base that speculation on, but it would be a solid move, IMO.

Another name that I'll throw out is just-released Goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann, a Seattle native who was with Reading for the last few seasons.

He's a solid, if unspectacular, player who was called their best player both when they set a Championship points record in earning promotion for the first time in '06/07 and during both of their seasons in the Premiership. He missed numerous matches this year due to injury, but was back in the lineup by the end of the season.

He's not a kid anymore, and at this stage of his career may be interested in a move closer to home. Seattle already has Keller in net, but USA (as the Reading fans called him) could be signed and then loaned out for a few months to stay in game shape as the Philly side gets ready for their debut next March.

As an expansion team, I'd much rather have an experienced netminder in place to both help with the growing pains of the initial seasons and work with (hopefully) a long-term prospect.

Peter Nowak was introduced as the first Manager of the Union. He's the only person to ever win a MLS Cup as both a player and manager, and will be bringing an uptempo style to Philly.

John Smallwood from the Philly Daily News did a nice assessment of what Nowak will bring to the table: http://www.philly.com/dailynews/sports/col...head_coach.html